Process of coking coal and producing gas.



H. L. DOHERTY.

PROCESS or some GOAL m1 monucms GAS.

. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22/1909. 1,034,214; 1 Patented July 30, 1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

Q/vih m'ooeo: Henr LDoherfy, {gvwevwot H. L. DOHERTY. PROCESS OF GOKINGCOAL AND PRODUCING GAS.

APPLIOATION FILED JUNE 22, 15109. 1,084,214. Patented July 30, 1912.

4 SHEETSSHEET 2,

Fame L.Dohery, Svwawioz efiv fialtozumg J (ea/ 2 H. L. DOHERTY. PROCESSOF COKING COAL AND PRODUCING GAS.

' v APPLIOA TION FILED JUNE 22, 1909. 1,034,214.

Patented July 30,1912.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

I Henry LDoherU awuw top H. L. DOHERTY.

PROCESS OF GOKING COAL AND PRODUCING GAS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 22, 1909. 1,084,214. Patented July 30, 1912 4SHBETSSHEET LJ Henry LDohert-y, lawman flea Wyn L2 coca I HENRY L.DOHEETY,

OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

PROCESS OF COKING (lOAL AND PRODUCING GAS.

' Application filed June 22,

Specification of Letters Patent Patented July 30, 1909. Serial No.503,733.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HENRY L. Dom-urn, a citizen of the United States,residing at New York city, in the county of New York and State of NewYork, have invented new and useful Improvements in Processes of Col:-ing Coal and Producing Gas, of which 1hr following is a specification. J

This invent-iondrelate's to processes for carboniaingslack" coal, andproducing gas,

and, in particular, to such processeswhere the heat for the carbonizingof the coal derived from the combustion of a portion of the gas formedduring the treatment of a previous portion oi the coal.

The objects of my invention are the furnishing of a process, whereby,the slack coal may be continuously carbonized or coked with theexpenditure, in the coking process,

of a minimum proportion of the total heat of the original coal and alarge proportion Oftllfi. volatile nitrogen of the coal recovered asammonia, and in apparatus of such de- Sign that. great flexibility ofcontrol over the coking process may be exercised, whereby the quality ofcarbonized coal or coke produced may be varied at will, and the cokingcarried on with t-lieexpcnditure of a minimui'n amount or labor.

3O In the hereinafter described process, I accomplish the above objectsby subjecting the raw'coal toa flame of burning producer gas and airpreheated by the sensible heat of the gases leaving the oven, theproducts of such combustion being passed in contact with the carbonizingcoal and the hot carbonized coal or coke in one direction, while thesteam from the quenching of the coke 'is passed in the oppositedirection, also in contact with the coke, thegases resulting froni thereaction of the reactive constituents of the combustion gases and thecoke, and from the. reaction of the water vapor and cokmbeing drawn offfrom the coke-oven iii/a common current and passed through al'ecuperator ao plying my process, but any form or" appaminswhiehwillpermit of the carrying out,

of the essential steps of my process may, of course, be substituted forthe one shown.

Figure l is a vertical longitudinal section through the coke-oxen A A,of Fig. 2 said 15 of Fig. 42. is a of the coke-oven and connec Fig. 3 avertical cross section through a retort or coking chamber and itsfeed-hopper and gas burner on the line I D of Fig. 1 and line E E ofFig. 2. Fig. a is a horizontal projection of a sect-ion by two inclinedplanes Whose traces on Fig. 1 are shown by the lines F F and Ft}. 5 is apart section through the recuperator on a yertical plane through theline C C" of Fig. 6, the air and gas blowers being shown in sideelevation. Fig. 6 is a dimgrammatic plan of the apparatus.

In the drawings, 1, designates the coke oven proper, 2 the recuperator,"-3 the gas blower, 4 the air blower, 5 and motors for driving theblowers.

67 is a chamber inclosed by the outer walls, 63, G4, 65 and 66, of theoven, in which are suspended coking chambers or retorts, 7. In Fig. 3 isshown a section through one or the retorts. The retorts have a steeljacket 8, with a thick lining built up of thick ringshaped blocksotfireclay,9. The steehsheli has a flange 10 at its top which rests on aheavy steel. plate 11. Heavyhangers, 12, are fastened to the plates 11and suspended from the I-beams l3 and 13" and 13 and 13'. These beamsare supported on the Walls of the oren. The weight of the col;-

saine. Appropriate 'buck-staves bind the walls togethery T from thetop-gi' the retort; This air cl her is cbsed'atqthe bottom by 'a' la ofreclay, go avhich is eievat oweredby.thelere imechanism 21. 5 .ableiiwyeen gfl gsgremded w roper on the line nisin l7, and having a cover29-. A n,air-- chamber, 19, separatesthecoal -hopper 35 ing chambers isthus borne by the Walls of the coke-oven and not lfi the arch oith'eplug '20 raised while the cone 16 is being lowered. A water jacket, '51,is provided for the bottom of 19 to protect it from the high temperaturein the combustion chamber 18; The hopperbottom, 23, of 19 opens directlyinto the opening 24 in the cover of the retort. A stepped-grate,25,which is itself supported by the stepped-walls 26 and 27 and the sidewalls 65 and 66 of the oven,together with the inclined plates 28 and 28,supports the 'mass of coke in the oven. Sets of chutes-one set for eachend of the ovendesignated by 30 and 30', are arranged to receive thecoke as it discharges from the grate 25.

The portion of the oven, 31, below the plates 28 and 28 may be calledthe quenching chamber of the oven. 'The quenching device consists of asystem of water pipes terminating inspray nozzles. A separate system,connected with the same main water pipe partments formed by the sidewalls 65 and 66 and the walls 26 and 27. The arrangement of the nozzlesfor the middle compartment is shown in Fig. 1. The pipe 32 leading offfrom 32 has a "number of branches, 32", 32", 32'", 32, respectivelyterminating in spray nozzles, 33, 33,33, 33", 33", The number of nozzlesused should be sufficient to give a uniform distribution of the water.While I may use any suitable form of nozzle, the one that I prefer isthat revealed and claimed in my Letters Patent No. 901,597 dated Oct 20,1908. This form of spray has a solid head perforated with fine holes, orpassages,bored at an angle with the axis of the spray-head and soarranged in position and angle that the fine streams discharging throughthe said inclined. passages intersect and impinge on each other,whereby, a very fine spray or fog is produced.

The sets of chutes, 30 and 30, are closed by sets of gates, 34 and 34,arranged with sets of racks, 35 and'35', gearing with pinions 36 and 36.Thepinions 36 are mounted on a common shaft 37 and so are operated inunison by turning the hand wheel 38. The pinions 36 are similarlymounted on a shaft 37 operated by the hand wheel 38'.

Sets of poke-holes, 39 and 40 and 39 and 40, permit of access to the bedof coke for the purpose of barring down, when the coke hangs and willnot discharge by gravity upon the rising of the gates 34 and 34. Doors41 are provided, furnishing a means of access to the compartmentsbeneath the grate, 25.

The retorts are each provided with one or more burners 42, which consistof short tubes of fire-clay, or other refractory inaterialapio sed attheir outer ends and having their uugr-=ends in free communication withtheir corresponding .combpstion chambers 32, is placed in each of thecom- I 18. The burners 42 have an interior axial tube 43 which extendsto the outside of the burner, and leaves an annular passage 44, betweenitself and the walls of the burner. The tubes 43 in connection with eachrow of retorts are connected with a gas-dis tributing pipe, 45, whilethe annular pas-- sages, 44, are connected with an air-distributingpipe, 46. The burners of the other row of retorts are similarlyconnected to similar gas and air-distributing pipes 45 and 46',respectively. The gas-distributing pipes of each oven are connected,through the cross-pipe 47, to a common gas-supplypipe 48 which conductsthe gas back from the'exhauster 3 to the oven. The air-distributingpipes, 46, are correspondingly the cross-pipe 49, to aconnected, throughcommon air supp y-pipe, 50.

The recuperator may be of any suitable design. In the one shown in thedrawings, it consists, simply, of a system of vertical pipes, 52,located in a chamber, The

gas is drawn oil from the oven through the conduit 54, and isdistributed through the cross-pipe 55 to the horizontal header-pipes 56.From 56 the gas is distributed to the vertical tubes 52. Horizontalheader-pipes 57 connect the tubes at the bottom of the re-' euperator,and the pipes 57 are, in turn,connected with the cross-pipe 58. Thesuction pipe 59 of the eXhauster-blower 3 opens out of 58. Set inthe'discharge-pipe 60 of 3, is the by-pass 48 leading back to the oven.A valve, 61, is also provided on' 60, and another, 61, on 48. Bymanipulating 61 it-is evident that the as may be supplied to 48 at anypressure esired within the capacity of the blower 3. The pipe 60 may beconnected to a holder or directly to a distributing main, as may bedesired.

The air for the combustion in the retorts is compressed by the blower 4and passesv through the pipe 62 to the bottom of the chamber 53, through53 in contact with the gas pipes 52 and discharges fromv the upper partof 53 through the pipe 50, through which it passes to the coke-oven.

Heat insulating jackets are, preferably,

provided for the various pipes conducting the hot gas and air from therecuperator to the coke-oven.

In starting the oven cinder or coke on to the grate until a bed has beenbuilt up Well abovethe apex of the. grate 25., A fire is then'kindld andcoke.

in operation, I charge gradually charged on the ignited bed until 7 abed of fuel has been built u "to the bottomsof the retorts. During t isoperation the doors 41 are left open and the exhauster '3 run at a slowspeed, When a suflicient thickness of ignited coke has been built up thegas passin become a fair through the exhauster 3 has good producer gas.The valve 61 whie was "at firstplosed is-now on ow opened mo. part ofthe passes back to the burners 49. where it is ignited and burncd byineansof air supplied by the blowcr i. {joke is now gradually charged.1. s .4 I c. i 5) nil/o luc lQLUJAo llllul toe ploper 1 cl lei cl beenatluinod. "Zi lion the rerorts and cou'ienls have been brought up to asuilable carbouizing iemperaiurc zhedoors 41 are closed. During hepreliminary firing, Sullicient win, if necessary, is sprayed onto thegrate to prevcni damage to the same I from the high heat in the fuelbed. The combustion gas from the burners in passing downward through thecolumns of hot coke in the srciorcs is changed to producer gas by the,now, Well known reaction revealed in 1y Leti'crs Patent 828,105 of Aug.21, 1906, Mcterial-cinder or coke according to which was used-is nowWithdrawn at the bottom of the oven and, the charges in the rei'ortssettle, raw coal is charged in at tho bop. is immediately subjecled toihc carhonr no; andv coking; action of the flame and the hob Walls oithe rclorc. and is soon coiled, the. voluiilc limiter distilled offmixing with bhc combustion gases from ,the burners and passing downthrough the reiorl's in coinoct with the ignited coke. The

1 is that the heavy vapors which, ordi- .iply distil oil from the cokeuncracked, up into compounds of lowcr molecular v glib, such as methane.

sauna liincunosz of the CU formed in tile i g'nii cd CQlZG according tothe reaction,

CU +C QCO 'lho resuls is that the gas issuing at the bot/win of theretort is a mixture of pro-- duccr i is and distillaliou gases; llicrich-- .l ilcpciuls upon the quanc lorls rclalivc to the quail coolczlilnmllc l, Ol---1)l.l in unolher nay-upon lllc tcinpcralurc ofcorluinizaiion. ii' hen a hard colic desired, a nip'h lciopcraturc inihe reioi'ls necessary. Cc ienlily, inorc must bc burned in lhc 1 Lorisfor the same quantity of coal lf)ll=i. than when a low-temperature produchcuch coke of a quality corresponding lo dul known commercially ascoalite, made; and, as a result, the ratio of pro duccr gas todistillation gas is increased.

lVhen coal is coked in the present used lypcs of extcrnally heatedrctorls or ovens. an amount of heat equivalent to about too iniu'cniypcr cent. of the total heat of the :wv coal is required forcoking. This is due se eral reasons. In the first place, ihc 1lcu'uieralurc (18004000? If.) rcquirelfl urn; a hard colic necossiiateslhc use of refractory--h1alerial such fire clayni she construction oi-ihe. rotor ovens. This material has a comparuliveiy Lil re. etc, withfree hydrogen. [it the v combustion at the burners reacts with the]necessary to make the walls of the carbonizing chamber very thick. Theheat couductivity of fircclay is also low. The COl-ZG ilself alsopossesses quite a low coiuluctive power. Now, in coking in externallyfired chambers all the heat necessary for the coking operation must passto the coal through ihe highly resistant walls of the chamb'cr and isthen transmitted to the interior of the mass in the chamber through theouter shell of the coke 'vvhich is first formed in contact with the hotWalls of the chamber. Owing to the low heat conductivity of thematerials mentioned, it is absolutelynccessary to have a very hightemperature in the combustion chamber In order to obtain a sufficientdifference of heat potential to drive the heat into the interior of thecharge at a. rapid rate. This, of course, means that the products ofcombustion must be allowed to leave the combustion chamber at atemperature considerably above that of the Walls of the coking, chamberor, say, 2000 to 2300 F. This means that a large portion of the totalheatv developed is ordinarily wasted so far as the coking operation isconcerned. Besides, the higher the temperature, the greater is theamount of radiation loss from the oven, since, according 0 Sl'cfans law,the radiation varies as the fourth power of The absolute temperature of(he body. In the ordinary methods of coking the heat losses by radiationand conduction to lhc an? amount to more than 520% of the total heatdeveloped in the operation. U11. the other hand, by my nielhod'ofcoking, the heat is developed in actual contact with llic raw coal, andthe gases of combustion pass through the mass enveloping each individualfragment of the some. The greatest distance that the heat must pass byconduction through a solid is measured by the shortestdistance that thecenter of the largfragmentis from the exterior surface of the lumpsaythree inches. In such an oven as the ones at present usually used theheat must be transmitted through 4% inches of fireclay and about 9inches of coal or coke to get to the interior of the charge. Further,since the temperature in the mass is only high enough to insure thedesired cokin action, the radiation losses are re ducc' to a minimum.Xhis latter loss is further reduced in the apparatus which I have shown,b y tiie fact that the coking chambers one surrounded by an outerinclosed chzirnber. The heat, radiated from the coking chambers isprincipally taken up in the gaseousatmospherc surrounding the cokingchambers and so passes to the necupcrator. from which it isretnrned tothe I oven chamber is comparatively low. For all of these reasons theheat lossesin my method of coking are comparatively lowonly a fraction,in fact, of the customary losses in coking. I am therefore able to carryout the coking operation with the expenditure of a comparatively smallpropor-.

tion of the total heat of the raw coal. Instead of 10%, I can so operatemy apparatus that I may use less than 5% of the total heat of theoriginal coal, in the coking. This would correspond to the gasificationby semi-combustion of, approximately, 5 to 6% of the carbon of the rawcoal treated. Since this gasitied carbon is, in large part,'in the formof carbon-monoxid and the major part of the sensible heat of the gas isrecovered in the recuperator and returned to the carbonizing chambers,nearly three-quarters of the original potential heat of the gasificdcarbon remains in an' available form in the gas formed from it.

An important and novel feature of this invention is the method I use toreduce the temperature of the heating gases (combustion gases from theburners 42) and of the hot coke before they leave the coking ch'amhers.etl'eet of the mutual reaction between the 00., of the combustion gasesand the carhon of the coke.

V hen a fresh charge of-iaw coal has been introduced into a cokingchamber, the high temperature gases from the carbonizing flame cause anextremely rapid distillation of the volatile matter of the coal. Thetemperature of the coal, however, remains at a comparatively low pointuntil most of the volatile matter has been driven 03. This is due to thefact that the distilling vapors carry ofi' the heat from the coal asfast as the latter can pick it up from the combustion gases. It is onlywhen the distillation has progressed to a considerable degree,

' that the coal gains heat faster than the distillation gases can carryit off, and the temperature tends to rise to a high point. Since thereaction,

(a) co +o:2co,

requires a considerable time of contact for its completion, the coolingeffect of the reaction on the fresh charge which is under "the directinfluence of the flame is scarcely appreciable. The low conductivity ofthe coking coal and the comparatively low velocity of the reaction,mentioned, permits the combustion ases, which are initially at atemperature of from 2500 F. upward, to penetrate a considerable distanceinto the fuel bed before their temperature has been reduced below thatnecessary to successfully complete the coking of the coaL- Thistemperatur may be-taken as ab0ut'2000 F. for

I do this by utilizing the cooling -,removal of the gases frbm contactwith the harder qualities of coke. The coke is therefore subjected to agood finishing heat before the temperature of the combustion gases hasfallen so low that thecooling action, in reference mentioned,predominates. Below this level in the carbonizing chambers, the coke isin process of cooling, the reaction proceeding at the expense of theremaining sensible heat of the combustion gases and the coke. I aim tomake'my carbonizing chambers of such a depth, in relation to the speedof driving, that the combustion gases shall remain in contact with thecoke for a sufiicient length of time to. reduce the temperature of -thelatter to near the point at which the reaction ceases. In other words, Iprefer to so design my apparatus that the coke may be cooled by reaction(a) to as low a temperature as is practically so at-- tainable, say 1300F. To complete the coolingofthe. coke I bring in the action of water.--The water as it is sprayed onto the coke on the'grate is, in part,immediately vaporized, While the portion not so vaporized is carried asa dense fog by the inithe vapor passes up through the hotter coke above,which it discharged from the coking chambers onto the bed 'at atemperature of about 14004500 F., the water vapor is decomposed byreaction with the carbon by either,

The gases resulting from these reactions, and any undissoclated water vaor, pass out of the coke bed and mingle wi the current to the coke, ofthe reaction of mixed, producer- 'gas'proper, and distillation gas fromthe retorts.

- Owing to the small quantity of heat which I have to develop tocarry onthe carbonizetion by my herein-revealed method, the normal producer gasmay be restricted to less than double the volume of the distillationgas.Since the distillation .gas would have a calorific value about fivetimes that of the producer gas proper, a resultant mixed gas may beproduced having a calorific power of about 2. times that of ordinaryproducer gas. Since the water gas may be made having about the samecalorific value as the mixed gas, it does not materially modify thecalorific power of the entire mixture. Where the recovery of thevolatile Initro gen of the coal becomes an object, Imodify -the workingof my a paratus to correspond with the conditions tion of ammonia. The eare, a moderate temperature in the fuel bed and the rapid avorable tothe form'ai nosczii the coking chambers, and increase the speed f drivin-i 6., both draw and charge at more frequent intervals. On the contrary,to produce a hard coke, I increase the proportion of gas burned in thecoking chambers, and decrease the speed of driving, whereby the cokeformed remains much longer under the influence of the high temperatureflame.

It is to be understood that the phrase substantially all of the carbondioxid and water vapor as used inthe following claims refers to thedissociation of substantizilly all of that portion of said constituentswhich is rclucible under the conditions of temperature and pressurewhich prevail in the operation of my coke oven. As is Well known tothose skilled in the art, there is always-a cergteinopartial pressureof'carbon diozzid and wliter vapor which is necessary for theequilibrium oft-he reacting system. I. of course, do not claim that Ican dissociate the carbon .dioxid and water vapor beyond the proportioncorresponding to this equilibrium pressure. The residual CO Inuy betaken as corresponding to the praciicul minimum in gas producerpractice, say i to 5 per cent. by volume.

The apparatus shown and'described herein l claim in my appliciit-ionSer. No. 523 313 filed June 22nd, 1909. 4

li' is, of course, to be u11derstoocl-th:itl

(lu not limit n'iy'inrention to the treatment true calnng coals, whichproduce a true COliG seer carbonizution. but use it in the curbonizingof any quality of cool. that it may be desirable to treat. For example.my inwntion may be applied to carbonizing lig'uiu. although thismaterial will not yield :1 rue colic. he process of treatment, luiwevm'.remains substantially the, some as when treating culring coals. theprincipal dili'ereucc being that the product of the operation is with l'uitc not a true coke.

iming rlcsc --J(l my invention, what I claim i 1. The process of cokingcoal and producing which c uuiriscs' subjecting-the coal in an in lus'cl chumbcr to the directaction of 32 gas flame: passing the products ofcombustion from said flame in Contact with a muss of prcwiously formedcoke in said in- -iiilosed-chnuiher, the depth of said muss ofpreviously formed coke being sullicient to insure the reaction withcarbon of substantially all or the carbon-dioxid and water vaporfonuedby the combustion in said gas flame, spraying the COlIO with mixer afterthe said cokehas been contacted with the products of combustion fromsaid Home, withdrawing from the incloscd chmnb'er the, gases resultingfrom the contact of the cpmbustion gases and the hotcoke and the waterand hot coke, and \vithdrmving the quenched coke from said chamber,substantiully as described.

2. The process of carbonizing coal and producing gas which comprisesheating coal in an inclosed chamber in direct contuctwitlru heatingflame to form distillation gases and carbonized coal, passing thecoinbusti( n\ gases from said flame and'the gases distilled,

from the said coal in contact with a of previously formed incandescentcarbonized coal in 'said inclosed chamber, the depth of said coke mussbeing suilicient tov insure the conversion by reaction with carbon ofsub- 9 stantially all of the carbon-dioxid and water vapor formed fromthe combustion in said gas flame, to carbon monoxid and hydrogen,quenching the carbonized coal after it has been contacted with the saidgases, with drawing from the inclosed chamber the gases formed byreaction between the combustion and distillation gases and the carbon ofthe carbonized coal and the gases from the quenching operetion, in acommon current, and withdrawing the quenched curbonized coal from theinclosed chamber, substantially is described.

3. The process of carbonizing, coal and producing gas which comprisesheat-ing the coal in an icloscd chamber in directcontact witl'r/tlieheating flame to form distillation gases and carbonized coal, pgrtiallyquenching the carbonized coal so-fornied by contacting the same with thecombustion gases from the heating flame and the listillation gases fromthe coal, the contact l tween the said and said carbonized coal beingsuiiicient to effect the conversion by reaction with carbon ofsubstantially all of the carbon dioxid and water vapor in said gases,into curbon-monorid' and hydrogen; completing the quenchingoi' saidcarbonized cool by spraying the partially quenched carbonized coal withwater, withdrz'iwing from the said chamber the gases formed by thereaction between the said comlmstion and d' v 'llation gases and the botcarbonized coal and the gases formed by thc'iinul quenching in a commoncurrent. and withdrawing the quenched carbonized (foul from saidchamber, subsb-zntiully as'describcd. I

l. The process of carbonizing coal and producing gas which comprisesintroducing said coal into an inclosed chamber, introducing into saidchamber gas from the carbonizing of a previous portion of coal andheated air, burning said gas and heated air in contact with said coal,whereby said coal is carbonized, removing said carbonized coal fromdirect contact with the flame of burning gas when the carbonizing actionheated air,

has proceeded to the desired degree, partially quenching the so-formedcarbonized coal by contacting therewith the combustion gases from saidflame and the gases distilled from a succeeding charge of coal, the massof carbonized coal exposed to the uenching action of said gases at anygiven time being sufiicient to convert substantially all of the carbondioxid' and Water vapor of said combustion and distillation gases tohydrogen and carbon 'monoxid, completing the quenching of saidcarbonized coal by spraying the same with water, withdrawing the gasesformed in the two quenching operations in a common :urrent, passing thesaid gases through a recuperator, whereby the major ortibii er thesensible heat of said gases is transferred to the air current the.carbonized coal from the first portion of coal, when the cokingoperation has proceeded to the desired degree, whereby the saidcarbonized coal is removed from the direct action of the flame'ofburning gas, partially ren ing the said carbonized coal by contactingtherewith the combustion gaseg from said flame, and. the distillationgaseslfrom succeeding charges of coal, the

mass of carbonized coal which is at any given time subjected to saidquenching ac- ."tion being suflicient to provide enough contact surfaceto efiect the c nversion by re-.

action with carbon of substantially all of the carbon dioxid and watervapor of said combustion and distillation gases to carbon monoxid andhydrogen, removing from contact with the partially quenched carbonizedcoal the combustible gas resulting from the reactions between thereactive constitu ents of the said combustion and distillation gases andthe hot carbonized coal, completing the quenching of the partiallyquenched carbonized coal, by spraying the same with water, withdrawingthe combustible gases formed by reaction between the water and thepartially quenched carbonized coal,passing the combustible gases fromthe first quenching operation and the combustible gases from the secondquenching operation through a recuperator, whereby the major ortion ofthe sensible heat of the said gases is transferred to the air currentsupplied for sustaining'the combustion in the carbonizing chamber,removing the'quenched carbonized coal from the said chamber, andcharging a fresh portion of raw coal onto the bed of carbonized coal insaid chamber, substantially as described.

6. The process of coking coal and producing gas which comprises chargingsaid coal onto a column of previously coked coal in an inclosed chamber,introducing into said chamber gas from the coking of a preyious.-

charge of coal, and heated air, burning the said gas and heated air incontact with said coal. whereby the volatile matter of said ,coalisdistilled therefrom and the said coal converted into coke, charging asecond portion of coal onto the coke from the first charge of coal, when"the first charge has been coked to the desired degree, whereby the cokefrom the first charge is removed from the direct action of the flame ofburn ing gas, partially quenching the said ,coke by contacting therewiththe combustion gases from said flame and the distillation gases from thesucceeding charges of coal, themass of coke that is contacted with thesaid gases at any time being such that the major portion of the carbondioxid and the major portion of the water vaporpf the I said gases .areconverted by the incinidescent carbon of the coke to carbon monoxid andfree hydrogen. and heavy hydrocarbon vapors of the distillation gasesarealso dis sociated into permanent gases of lower molecularweight-withdrawing the gases resultmg from the contact of the combustionand distillation gases and the coke from contact with thelattenwithdrawi'ng the partially quenched coke from the coking chamberonto a bed of coke on'a grate in 'a quenching chamber, spraying wateronto the lower part of said bed of coke. contacting the water vapor soformed in the lower part of said bed of coke with the hot coke in thesuberincumbent layers. less of such water vapor reacts with a portion ofthe carbon of said coke to form combustible gas. withdrawing thecombustible gases formed from the reactions between the combustion anddistillation gases and the coke and the water vapor and the coke fromthem through a the sensible heat of returning to said cokingchamber aportion whereby more or esser.

of the combustible gases after they have passed through saidrecuperator, withdrawing the quenched col etrom said fuel bed, andcharging a fresh portion of coal onto the top of said fuel bed, allsubstantially as described. i

7. The process of carbonizingcoal and pro ducing gas which comprisessubjecting the 'coal in an inclosed chamber to the direct action of aflame ofburning gas to carbonize said coal, passing the. products ofcombustion from said flame in contact with a mass ot previously formedcarbonized coal in said chamber, spraying the carbonized coal withwater, after the said carbonized coal has been contacted with theproducts of combustion from said flame, withdrawing from the inclosedchamber the resulting from the contact of the combustion gases and thehot coke and the water and hot coke, and withdrawing the quenched cokeitself, substantially as described.

8. The process of carbonizing coal and producing which comprisescharging the said slack coal ontb a column of previously formedcarbonized coal in an vinclosed chamber, subjecting the said coal to thedirect action of a flame of burning gas, the gases of said flame beingunder sutiicient pressure to insure their penetrating of the layer offreshly charged slack coal, condu ting the combustion gases from saidflamethrough the said column of carbonized coal, withdrawins; fromcontact with the carbonized coal the gases resulting from the reactionof the carbon of the same and the said combustion gases, spraying thelower portion of the column of carbonized coal with. water, whereby. thecarbonized coal in the said lower portion of the chamber is quenched andthe said water vaporized, conducting the so formed water vapor through aportion of the superincumbent column of carbonized coal and withdrawingthe formed by the contact of the said carbonized coal and water vaporand the contact between the carbonized coal of the upper portion of saidcolumn and the combustion gases from said inclosed chan'ibcr,sul'istantially as described.

9. The process of carbonizing coal and producingic'as whi h comprisessubjecting the said slack coal in an incloscd chamber to the directaction of a flame of gas burning above the surface of the coal bed. thegases of said llame being under sutiicient pressure to insure theirpenetration of said mass of slack coal, passing the comlntstion fromsaid flame in contact with a bod of previously formed carbonizedt'ucl,and withdrawina the finished carbonized fuel and the gases produced bythesaid operations from the incloscd chamber, substantially asdescribed.

10. The proccss of coking coal and producing gas which comprisescharging the slack coal onto a of coke from previously cokcd slack in aninclosed chamber, introducing under pressure into the top of saidchamber above the surface otthe slack coal at current of combustible gasand a can rent of air, whereby the said slack coal subjected to thedirect action ,of a flame of burn ing gas, conducting the combustiongases from said llamc through the upper portion oi. said mass of coke,spraying the lower portion of said mass of coke with we ter, when-{bythe said Water is partly raporized, condut ing the sciormed water raporand the residual liquid water through the lower portion of said mass ofcoke, and

withdrawing the quenched coke and the gases formed by said operationsfrom. the inclosed chamber, substantially as described.

1L The process of coking coal and producing which comprises repeatedlycharging portions of said slack onto a colman of ignited coke maintainedin an inclosed chamber, introducing under pressure above the surface ofthe freshly, charged slack, preheated air and a portion of the gaspreviously withdrawi'i from said inclosed chamber, the pressure underwhich the said. iuids are introduced being suflicient to insure thepenetration of the charge of fresh slack by the flame of burning gas,conducting the combustion gases from said flame through the upperportion. of said column of coke, contacting the lower layers ofsaidcolumn with misted water whereby a portion of said water is vaporized inContact with said lower layers, conducting the water vapor bearing theresidue of the misted water through the portion of the said coke columnsuper-incumbent to said lower layers, 4

whereby the residue of said water is also converted into vapor and thewater vapor caused to react to a greater or less extent with the hotcoke to form principally'oarbon monoxid and hydqgen, continuouslywithdrawing; from an ii'itermediate level of said coke column the gasesformedtherein', and repeatedl withdrawing portions of the quenched cokefrom the bottom of said column, substantially describe-d.

12. The process of carbonizing coal and producing gas which comprisesmaintaining a body of fuel in an incl'o'sed chamber, maintaining aflange of burning gas in con tact ith the surface/0f said fuel body-0carbonize said fuel, passing the products of combustion from said flamein contact with a mass of previously formed carbonized fuel in saidchamber, whereby carbon di- ()Xltl of said combustion products is causedto react with a portion of the carbon of said arbonized fucl,- advancingsaid fuel body through said chamber at a rate materially greater thanthe rate of consumption of said fuel therein spraying the carbonizedtueladranced beyond the combustion region of said chamber. with \i'ater,to cool said Signed at New York city, in the county fuel, to vaporizesaid watel apd to 01m aof New York and State of New York, thls 1o tergas, withdrawing from smd chamber the 21st day of June 1909.

ases resultin rom the contact of the com- 1 Eusfiun gnses with thecarbonized fuel and- HENRY DOHERI the gases resulting from he C(HltilCtof the W'itnesses:

"water and carbonized fuel, and withdrawing F RED B. MULCOX,

the quenched.c0ke. Tnos. I. CARTER.

